A fairy tale
Wishful thinking seems to have come into vogue among the
powerful.
The biggest whopper to date: Clean, plentiful nuclear
power is a big part of the answer to the nation’s energy woes.
So sayeth President Bush. So sayeth Vice-president Cheney.
So sayeth Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson, the man with a
nuclear waste dump in his own back yard.
Simpson represents the state that refused to accept waste
from commercial nuclear plants.
He represents the state where clean-up of the witch’s
brew left by a half-century of nuclear development has stymied some of the
nation’s best engineers and chemists.
He represents a district that worries about what will
happen when an underground plume of water contaminated with radioactive
substances reaches the Snake River.
What is he thinking?
Looks like he’s thinking just what the administration
says all good party stalwarts must think.
As for long-lived radioactive waste produced by nuclear
power plants, Simpson told a group of environmentalists encamped at
Redfish Lake not to worry and to have faith that scientists will solve the
vexing problem of what to do with it.
Simpson tipped his hat to a man in the audience who
yelled, "They didn’t send a guy to the moon before they knew how to
get him back."
Good point, and a tip of the hat won’t make it go away.
No human in his right mind would drink from a poisoned
well just because it is convenient or because a government leader tells
him to have faith that an antidote will surely be developed in time to
save him.
Yet, this is Bush’s energy policy—and what could
become the legacy for future generations. A few more Hanfords, a few more
INEELs—what the heck. Someone else will clean them up later.
After all, Americans today shouldn’t be forced into a
false choice between energy production and conservation, according to the
president.
Yup. With wishful thinking Americans can have it all. We
can keep the lights on. We can drive gas hogs. Let the next generation pay
the bill.
Who needs fairy tales? Americans have Bush, Cheney and
Simpson to lull us to sleep.